Observations From Editorial Columns

Hard-Liffitt Thinlcing Needod

CoiTTOtions Secretary David Jones suggested earlier week the state house repeat o&enders. those inmates tHast no soom are released from prison than they are back in on tftae swinging door poUcy, in special units with limited rehabilita tlon programs and a lot of hard work.

Contending the state wastes millions of dollars in serious rehabilitation programs cxi incorrigibles, Jones has pro(>ooocl converting several of the76 units into repeater camps.

There will be few, ifar^, educational orvocational fvosrams at these units, Jones said. In short, we are going to address ourselves to the inmate who cotnes to prison, gets out Int-mediately ccntunits a crime and is back in.**

Jones however doesnt have the legal authority to males tlas conversion and will ask the legislature for the nArT*fffTsry jurisdiction.

Whether or not the secretarys plan is advisable or not; is deistable, but it deserves a long look.

Making prison a less desirable institution, separating tte tksurd c<re frmn dte socially salvagable inmate, saving wasted tax dollars on wasted rehabilitation and devoting full efiTorte at educati<m and rehabilitation in most receptive areas se^ms a good idea.

Maybe hard-line prison thinking is what we need.

Concord Tribune

A Conservative View

The Dally Reflector. GreenvUle, N.C.Sanday. Deceabertl, lf7fA-f

Putting The Past Into A Better Perspective

Legislative Disdain

A couple of months ago^ public of^nion analyst Louis HazT*is wrote, **By a lopsided 71 per cent to23 percent, most Americans complain in hard clear terms that the trouble with most leaders is they treat the public as though it has a 12-year-old mentality, instead of as grown up human beings who can take the hard truth on most issues.* The gulf between the public and its leadership has rarely been so wide or deep.**

To an extent, thats the way a group of North Carolina legislative leaders treated their constitunts (hiring the i>ast week when they found at least a momentary lo<^hole in tlie Legislative Act

Meeting to work out the mechanics of a new law which went into effect the first erf December, requiring legislatcws and legislative candidates to file statements of their major business interests, real estate holdings, majm* debtors and major business clients, a commission decided that the law really did not apply to present members of the General Assembly.

With only a single dissenter ( Sen. Jack Childers of Davidson) , the special commissicm agreed to delay the required filings so that th(se who will again be in session next spring may serve without revealing facts ab(xit themselves to which the public is entitled.

In tortuous reasoning, the majority decided that since they did not file their holdings earlier the law didnt take effect until the first of December they have no obligation to file Jan. 15 anupdate. Nothing to update, thatis.

Perhaps the legislators know better than we what they meant todo when they reluctantly passed the ball in the first place. But if they did not intend that it be implemented after Dec. I st, why was the date used in the first place?

Sen. Childers and Lt Gov. Jim Hunt disagree with the commissions reasoning and believe that the people are entitled to kn(}w now what forces might be at woric on the pecq>le who make our law% We think they are right The High Point Enterprise

Just Hold On A While

If a potential home<3wner were to ask our advice, We w^ould have only one bit of advice build a house with more storage sps(te than you possibly thii^ youll use.

Youll need it to store all the things that you would normally throw away after they have acx^uired dents, broken motors and other pieces and have gone completely out of style Youll want to store them rather than see them reai^>ear cm some flea market25 years from now and bring an astrcmomical price.

My mother had one just like that, is <me of the most conv-mon reactions h^rd at auctions hereabouts.when some trashy looking item of no possible use is sold at a high price This use brought to mind when a Post reporter locked at the display of 1930s cars owned by the Tar Heel Street Rod Association. Some of them kinda look like our old brown 1952 Dodge, she said We had it 18 years before we junked it. Hmmmm, hmmmmmeda visitor to the office That would be worth about $10,000 now.

A dazed look, almost one <3f horror, came in her yes. Restored the man said In other words, $9,999 worth of parts, upholstery, paint, hlood, sweat and tears later.

We figure on getting rich quicker and earlier by buying up todays primitive copies of 19th century primitive cc^ies of 18 th century primitives. The Salisbury Evening Post

The Press's Fault

Former Govemcar Terry Sanfcxd, running fear the presidency of the United States, took out after the national press in Washingtcm the other day.

Any time any politician is behind, it is the iif thing to do to blame it on the press.

Name any politician who has fallen from the public perch and five will get y<xi ten that he steamed up along the way and blamed the press. ( Scanetimes, the accusation is right on tars^t. Mr. Nixcai cn speak to that)

Those who fell from their own in^tness wculd inchade Rdr. Muskie, Mr. McGovern, McCarthy, Humphrey, Johnson, etc.

Mr. Sanfcxrd now president o Duke University, had laid out great expectations far a full-employment conference in the natioif s capital but when (xily about 10 spectators showed up to hear 10 ec(xiomi8ts, then Mr. Sanford got out the gold recosrdr Thepress hasntwantkd toget interested in issues. Its all the presss fauiC

It certainly is, Mr. Sanford And if that one doesnt work, try siteiety next The Gastcsiia Gazette

By JAltfES J. KILPATRICK

The story of the Watergate scandal bcdce in June of 1972 and climaxed with Richard Nixons resignation in August of 1974. Throughout that period, the Presidents defenders raised two dies.

Pifttntively, bitterly, resentfully, they protested that the press hounded Mr. Nixon out of (rffica They argued from the beginning that Nixon had done nothing "his predecessors didnt do before him.

Time after time, in letters, speeches, columns, and TV commentaries, X insisted the rst charge was untrue and the second irrelevant (Once at Albuquerque, speaking to state legislative leaders, I denied that the press had hounded Mr. Nixon out of office, only to have a tipsy dignitary cry horse manure! and stagger frtmi the hall). The notion that the innocence of Mr. Nixon could be established by proving the guilt cf Messrs. Kemiedy and Jdinson struck me as nouense. This was what my kother George F. Will ridiculed as the defense of so-your-(rfd-man.

Nothing has come alof^ to change my mind. Excq)t for a few months in the fall of 1972, when Woodward and Bernstein of the Washingtm Post were doing their brilliant job, the role of the press was largely r^x^kniaL Starting early in 1973, the courts and Congress took the lead in the hounding process and the press was merely part of the pack. On the second issue, the rules of

relevant evidence still strike me as clear.

All the same, recent events suggest a few reflections by way of putting it all in perspective Disclosures from the Church Committee of the Senate and the Pike Committee of the House make it clear (1) that Nixon was the unlucky target of unprecedented attack, and (2) that the (rid game of cover up is still being played

Nixon was unlucky for this reason above all others; His underling got caught The first of the many (iarges against him was the bigging of bis political opposition. Well, we know now that Lyndon Johnson bugged his 19M ofi^position in every conceivable way; but Jriinsons break-and-ent* artists never got caught We know now that Franklin D. Roosevelt hired the FBI to make dossiers on his political foes; but FDRs men never got cau^t

One of the most contemptible it^s in the catalog of Nixonian sins was theenemies list The idea was to screw our ^^ies, as John Dean so delicately put it, by having them harassed by the Internal Revenue Service. We know now that six days after his inaugurati(xi, John Kennedy sent his hatdietman, Carmine Bellino, around to the IRS for the idoitical purpose. We know it now.

What was the particular villainy of Mr. Nixons famou8plumbers? Their purpose was to discredit Daniel Ellsberg, and they made a f^onious entry toward that end How is this to be distinguished, one may inquire, from the

Outlook For '76 Cloudy Because Of Uncertainty Over Rate Of Inflation

By GEORGE BRYANT, JR.

Obviously, this is not a truly jolly seas(i^ for the economic analysts who have to stick their necks out on 1976. For one thing, uncertainties are greater than usual. Then, too, the track record of the experts has been nothing to brag about in recent times. Theres an awareness that a recovery trend, like a recession trend, can produce surprises.

The concensus of the forecasters is that 1976 will be better than this year and by a fair margin. This anticipates a rise of some 6 per cent in Gross National Product, which measures the total of goods and service produced. The figures are in real terms, after adjustment for inflation.

This is a moderate rate of gain in a recovery movement. In fact, it compares with a normal growth rate of about 4 per cent, or maybe per cent.

Politically, this will be disappointing. But a slow recovery reduces the risk of another inflationary boom, followed by another bust, which could be even worse than the recession.

On the political side, it means a continuing rate of unemployment well above what is considered an acceptable level. In November, the rate of unemployment was 8.3 per cent, down from 8.6 per cent the previous month, A 6 per cent rise in GNP will absorb the normal addition to the labor force next year, but it wont make much of a dent in the number of unemployed might drop it to around 7 per cent.

The brightest spot in the forecast^is that prospect that the rateof inflation will slow a bit more. Guesses settle at around 7 per cent, which is much too high by any past standards. But its better than the 9 per cent this year and the double digit rate of 1974.

Still, inflation is regarded as one of the biggest questionmarks over next years business trend. Right now, the (;onsumer, business and individual, are spending more freely, but still with considerable caution. A sudden upturn in the inflation rate would have a quick impact on the outlook. If consumers were driven from the market place in great

numbers, recovery would falter.

This is why 1976 wage negotiations will be so critical. Theres an inclination, at this time to expect the big unions to settle for reasonable increases. But this may turn out to be wishful thinking. The truckers, for example, want a 35 per cent hike in base p>ay, plus another 15 per cent in fringes. So, they are talking about a 50 per cent hike, spread over three years. And there is nothing reasonable about that.

Unless wage Increases are tied to productivity gains, they will have a quick impact on prices. There will simply be a pass-through to the consumer. The squeeze on corporate profits cant be absorbed. So, there is danger of a speed up in the old wage-price spiral.

In making their forecasts, the analysts have had to make assumptions which

Evans-Novak...

(Continued from page 4) the consumer. Upon learning what Rockefeller said, Morton assumed the Vice President had been told of a decision to veto the bill and telephoned Washington to find out. Informed no decision had been made, Morton finessed the issue by saying the bill was the best thus Congress would pass.

The pending energy decision further poisoned the atmosphere. Ford operatives were warned approval of the bill would demolish the President in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. He ca just write off Texas if he signs it, said State Rep. Fred Agnich. the states powerful Republican national committeeman and a Ford supporter. Nor would vetoing the common situs picketing bill remove the curse. If he signs one bill, he might as well sign both, because hes dead in Texas anyway. a state party leader told us.

Even so, an announcement that Mr. Ford intends to veto the picketing bill would have succored his ragged band of operatives here.

may or may not pan out. Among them is what is going to happen to capital spending by business and the trend in home building. These are two major areas where rising activity plays a major role in the speed of recover.

Right now, housing is still dragging, still far short of its normal gains in past recoveries. The big problem here is not demand or the lack of financing. Its the continuing price inflation which placed new homes out of reach of so many buyers. Both labor and material costs, to say nothing of land, have been pushed skyward.

The trend in business spending for new plant and equipment is hard to figure. The normal trend in a recovery is for this spending to move sharply up as times improve and future demand comes into better focus. But this spending, so far, shows little "zest. In fact, corporate management shows signs of getting better profits out of what they, have rather than relying on new growth schemes.

The fact is that future uncertainties over certain basics, energy being one of the greatest, tend to discourage expansion in facilities for both industrial and consumer goods. Even if Congress energy bill goes on the statute books, its going to take a long time to simply make heads or tails of the measure.

Government spending, a major factor in the overall economy, is uncertain for 1976. Theres no doubt that the Federal contribution will continue to rise. An election-minded Congress will see to that. But at the state and local levels of government, it is a different story.

The New York City bit has forced a lot of local officials to take a truly hard l<x>k at just where they are heading. Many are loaded with unfunded pension plans which can become a future burden. And many have suffered a loss of revenud due to the recession. They face some listening, which means a brake on spending. They are going to be cautious.

The slow recovery the experts forecast may well be fortunate. A return to speculative excesses would bring nothing but more trouble.

ftionious entries ordered by the Johnscm administration in 1965 against Martin Luther King? Sixteen bugs and eight wiretape! We know all this now.

Kennedy was the adored darling of the Washington press. J(riuison simfriy bowled the reporters down. By contrast, Nixtm was hated with a blood lust that made his mutilation pure delict The record of the press fcnr fairness and even-handed vigilance over the past 15 years Is nothing to be especially proud of.

The c(Miduct of Senator Churcdis investigating committee suggests that the controlling Democrats will not set much of a record of fairness either. It is remarkable, is it not, how lightly the senator treads through the Democratic past? What a tiger! What a pussy cat

Thus a Church staff rep<xt deals with President Eisenhower, who asked FBI Director

H(Mver for a rep<Rt <xi racial tensions and received an unsolicited Ixiefing to the Ciri>inet on what Southern governors were up to. No one appears to have questioned the propriety of the FBI reporting such p(riiti(Uil intelligence

No on? It is a sweeping prcxioun. Appeanl? In the context of a full-Mown expert investigati(xi. It is a sleazy verb. At least four members of the Eisenhower Cabinet are still alive. None was asked to testify. The Church Committee smears and runs. No one appears to have questioned . .

Nixon lied. NixMi covered up Nixon abused his power. All of that But if CUoy the muse of histopry, hovers over <mr town, she will see a vast memorial to John Kennedy, and a stadium named for brother Bobby, and a living shrine to Lyndon J<rimson, and perhaps the lady will snicker as she passes ty.

IF WE WERE THE PANICKY TYPE

By GAIL MICHAELS

Just More Believable Reading Between Lines

Have you ever wondered how those people who send out family reports manage to lead such exciting lives year after year? For some reason I just can't believe anyones life is that wonderful and exciting. In fact, 1 find that by twisting the words just a little, I get a much truer picture of what the familys life is probably like.

Take for example, Roger and Jan. Every year they send us a blow-by-blow account of all the family activities, starting with a general summary and ending with a breakdown into individual family members. This year I decided to read between the lines and came up with my own version.

Letter: Dear Friends.

Another year is almost over, and. as usual, we have enjoyed it to the fullest. Much of the year was spent locating and moving into our lovely new apartment. Roger and I sold the house after we realized that with the children growing up, we no longer needed so much room. We al^ decided to forego our annual trip to Acapulco because the resort has become so commercialized that none of us really enjoyed it any more. Instead, we chose a nice, isolated private beach in N. C. where we could relax and really get away from it all.

Translation: Dear friends. Another year is almost over.

and, as usual, we have enjoyed it to the fullest. Much of the year was spent locating and moving into our dinky little apartment. Roger and I sold the house after the IRS audited his taxes and found out that he owed about $40.000. After this discovery we couldnt afford a decent vacation either, and we ended up spending three glorious sun-filled days at that exotic N. C- resort, Whichards Beach.

I>etter: Donald, 16. is the social butterfly of the family. He recently followed in his fathers footsteps when he joined a prestigious high school fraternity. He still belongs to it. although soon after he joined, he decided, under the guidance of the school counselor, to take a semester off from school in order to find himself. He continues to enjoy his hobby. indfx>r gardening, and has been performing some fascinating experiments with his plants

Iransiation: Donald. 16, is the social butterfly of the family. He recently followed

in his fathers footsteps when he joined a prestigious high school fraternity-the Storm Troopers. He still belongs to it. although S(M3n after he joined, he was expelled from school for smoking In the restroom. 1 thought the penalty was rather severe, but the guidance counselor thought it was pretty fair, considering it was the girls restroom they caught him in. Donald continues to enjoy his hobby of indoor gardening, but weve been watching him closely since his father caught him smoking the leaves from his tomato plant.

Letter: Bernard, 12, is the scholar of the family. He has had an outstanding year in school. He does especially well in English, and this year he won a major school award for his performance. Bernards science project this year, a boa constrictor named Ralph, provided us with constant amusement. He was an interesting conversation piece at dinner parties. Unfortunately, space problems forced us to give Ralph up when we moved.

Translation: Bernard, 12, is the scholar of the family, he has had an outstanding year in school. Not only has he set the Fourth Grade attendance record for three straight years, but his reading comprehension teacher assures me that he will graduate to a second grade reader by the end of

* Continued on page A-13)Lack Of Discipline Again Named Top Problem Facing Schools

By GEORGE GALLUP PRINCETON, N. J.Latric of tiiscifriine is again nameti l>y tbe nations adults as the top proWem facing Americas put^o pchiiols todfty

Discipline has been named as the No. 1 problem of the scbools in six of the last seven years as determined by these nrmwl surveys'of public attitudes toward education in the Uxiitea

States. _

All persons surveyed were asked this question:

What do you think are the biggest problems with whxctx nulriic scbotris in this commimity must deal? ^ ^ ^

Here in order of mention are the leading problems faced by

kK^ s(ri>ools:

1. Lack of discipline -

2. Integratioo-segregation problems

3. of proper financial supfwrt

4. Difficulty of geCtii^ good teachers

5. Use of drugs

6. Size of stshool - classes

7. Crime - vandaliMn - stealing

8. Poor (nariculum Piqiils lack of interest

9- Parents* lack oi interest

Ls(dt of proper facilities 10. Sdiool board policies

Pareiria Favor Giving Stndents More Work The decline in natkmal test scores has caused a national debate on courses of action to be takra. Maybe the best answer as to what Nwrid be diKie to halt the decline in the test scores for demeikary and high s(riiool students (xunes frtn the parents of these students: increase the work load

A majsrity of those parents interviewed in the curreiri survey bold the view that students are not being given enou^ work to doeither in the elementary grades or in high scbocri. A negligible mimbes^S per cent in the case of elonentary teudentsand(Mriy2 percent in the case of high S(^kx>1 students report that students are made to worit too bard

Rsdksg Of Seteois Shows Decttae Wbn asked in the same survey to rate their local public adioola, fewer parents today than one year ago give tbeir sdMxds an A or B rating The current gure is 53 per (it; (e year ago ti was 64 per ceat.

Following are the ({uestkxu asked to determine attitudes toward the amount of work done by riudents:

In general, do you thizdc eleroeotary scbtxil children in the public sdioois btfe are made to work too bard in school and on

homework, or not hard enough?

Here are the views of parents (ri students in pulriic s<d)ools; Elementary School Students Made To Work Too Hard?

Public

School

Parents

Too hard 5

Not bard enough 53

About ri^t amount 35

Don't knowNo answer 7

What about students in the public hi^ schools herein general, are they reqiared to work too hard or not hard enough?

The resulta:

Higb School Sttidaits Made To Work Too Har

Public

School

Parents

Too hard 2

Not hard enough 54

About rigit aroouDt 24

Dont know No answer

20

This question was also asked

Students are often given the grades A B, C. D and FAIL to denote the quality of their work. Suppose the public schools themselves, in this cximmunity, were graded in the same way. What grade would you give the public schools hereA, B, C D or FAIL?

The following table ctxnpares the latest results with those recorded a year earlier, based on the %iews of the parents of public school children:

How Public School Psreato Rate Tbeir Public Schools

A rating B rating Crating D rating FAIL

Don't know No answer Results are based on in-person interviews with a total of 1,558 adults < 18 and (ridM*), conducted in more than 300 scientifically selected ktealities acrom the natiop.

1974

197S

22%

17%

42

36

24

29

4

8

3

7

5

3